Tag: Berkeley

Berkeley Main Library and Peets Coffee Sketches

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 10, 2010
5 Comments on Berkeley Main Library and Peets Coffee Sketches

Berkeley Public Library, ink & watercolor

The Berkeley Public Library is a beautiful old building that was lovingly preserved and added on to a few years ago. We met there to sketch last Tuesday night, enjoying the ambiance and craftsman furnishings in the lobby of the old section. I experimented with trying to get the perspective from where I sat in a room filled with wood, metal filigree screens, brass door frames, carved ceilings and handcrafted furniture.

I asked Cathy to take a picture of me sitting in the high-backed chair with diagonal arms so I could sketch it later. I messed up my face (in the sketch) so I just pasted on a fresh piece of watercolor paper and did it again.

When the library closed at 8:00 we headed across the street to Peet’s Coffee, hoping that their manager (who looks like Harry Connick Jr. and dresses in fancy 1950s suits and ties and an Elvis pompadour) would be there for us to sketch. He was there but he was wearing a different costume: suspenders over a tight white t-shirt and a fedora. I asked him why he wasn’t wearing a suit and he said he hadn’t known in advance he would be working that night so wasn’t dressed for work.

Last time we were there I asked him if he was in a band and why he dressed so cool. He said he just liked to, and that years ago when he was in a band he dressed much more sloppily. (My dad was famous for starting up conversations with strangers and asking similar questions which used to embarrass us kids but I guess I inherited his curiosity.)

The manager never stopped moving and was often out of my sight but one of his buddies who seemed to be channeling Keith Richards (only looking much more alive) hung out for a while and he at least stood in one place long enough to sketch him.

Cathy was facing a tiny, ancient man in a weathered, WWII leather aviator cap who parked his 1940s era bicycle behind me in the store’s entry way, giving her a perfect view for sketching him and the bike. He was selling bike parts to a young man. When he left she showed him the sketch of his bike (but not of him because it was just too funny) and got the information about his bike for her sketchbook.

Before they closed at 9:00 I was able to get in a quick sketch of these people at a nearby table.

Tags Berkeley, Drawing, Faces, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Peets Coffee, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Drawing Faces Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting People Sketchbook Pages

Tuesday Night Sketching at Brennan’s Berkeley

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date January 4, 2010
8 Comments on Tuesday Night Sketching at Brennan’s Berkeley

Brennan's Bar and Restaurant, ink, watercolor and logo

I stood outside on a dark, drizzly night in front of Brennan’s Bar and Restaurant last Tuesday night, drawing until my sketchcrawl buddies arrived. Brennan’s recently moved to a new building, a former train station a block away from their former location under the University Avenue overpass in Berkeley.

I’d propped up my sketchbook on the hood of a truck parked nearby and immersed myself in figuring out the building. “HONK! HONK!” Suddenly the truck honked at me. I jumped, and moved away, thinking someone was approaching and would get in their truck and drive away. But nobody showed up so I went back to drawing. But then every few minutes the truck would HONK at me again.

Each time I jumped and then I heard guys laughing. One of the three silly, half-drunk men joking around near the bar was using his remote to play around with me. He came over to see if I was drawing him, as his friends said I was doing. Uh, no. But I told him he could pose for me. He declined and they left just as Cathy and Sonia arrived.

Brennan's Turkey Leg Dinner, ink and watercolor

We went in and ordered dinner. I have a thing for turkey legs so while Cathy and Sonia each ordered half turkey sandwiches, I got this huge plate of turkey, mixed veges, boiled cabbage (yuck, what was I thinking?) and boiled potatoes. The turkey was great and I took home enough for two more meals.

I switched to using a Pilot Varsity fountain pen, adding water over the lines with a waterbrush to make washes. It was so convenient sketching at Brennan’s. The light was good, the atmosphere full of energy, and we sat right near a water and condiments station so we could fill and empty our water containers a few feet from our table. Since it’s cafeteria style dining there was no waiter to care how long we sat there.

Cathy suggested we do some contour drawing so I drew the condiments at the next table.

I used to go to Brennan’s back in the 70s for their Irish Coffee (and for pitchers of beer with my women’s softball team after our games). Now that I’m not consuming sugar or much caffeine that wasn’t an option. But I did get a cup of decaf and it was worse than our office coffee so I figured I probably wasn’t missing much.

This couple was pretty good about moving between two poses. I found that if I just waited a bit they would return to the position I was drawing.

These guys at the bar were soooo nerdy. The guy on the left was actually wearing orange pants.

This week we’re going to the Berkeley main library to draw.

Tags Berkeley, Brennan's Restaurant, Drawing, Faces, Ink, ink and watercolor, Ink and watercolor wash, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Interiors People Places Sketchbook Pages

A Sketchy Christmas

Sketching at the Claremont Hotel, ink & watercolor

The Claremont Hotel in Berkeley is all decked out for the holidays and a good place to sketch when it’s cold outside. We met there Tuesday night and had our choice of comfy places to sketch. That’s Sonia in the sketch above, drawing a piano that is just off to her left.

I found a spot near their fancier bar and restaurant with another grand piano where (I thought) a talented jazzy piano player was entertaining the diners. I really liked the way he riffed on holiday music (although his repertoire seemed not too extensive as he began repeating the songs after about an hour).

At the end of the evening I walked into the bar to thank the piano player, having imagined what it must be like playing holiday music in a bar, night after night, the same tunes over and over, while people celebrated. The bench was empty! The piano was playing itself, the keys popping up and down on their own.

I liked both of these sketches more as ink drawings before I overworked them with paint. I’ve been really tired this week which often leads to mucking around when I should be moving on to the next page.

Tags Berkeley, Claremont Hotel, Ink and watercolor wash, Interiors, Pen and Ink, People, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Ink and watercolor wash Painting Places Sketchbook Pages

Sketching at Berkeley Bowl Market

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 16, 2009
7 Comments on Sketching at Berkeley Bowl Market

Berkeley Bowl Soup Counter, Ink & watercolor

My Tuesday night sketch buddies and I met at the old Berkeley Bowl (named for its former location in a converted bowling alley). We didn’t realize when we made our plans that they closed at 8:00 so we only had a little over an hour to sketch (and shop). It was cold inside the store so the soup counter seemed like it would be a warm spot to sketch (it wasn’t, being right between the front door and an open refrigeration area).

Potatoes and Xmas Wreaths, ink & watercolor

I was amused by the juxtaposition of Christmas wreaths with bagged and loose potatoes piled high in ex-banana boxes but I didn’t enjoy the spot where I was drawing. The florescent light overhead kept flickering and a small, yappy dog just outside the door barked furiously non-stop.

Although there were at least 40 kinds of citrus fruit and nearly as many varieties and sizes of apples on display, this visit made me feel better about shopping at the stores in my neighborhood. Since I don’t like shopping to begin with, I would rather have fewer, higher quality choices in a more peaceful setting. (I’ve heard tales of grocery-cart road rage at Berkeley Bowl on Saturdays but everyone seemed reasonable tonight).

At my favorite produce market, Colusa Foods in Kensington, there is enough variety and everything is hand selected by the Japanese family that owns the store, and the prices are great. At El Cerrito Natural Grocery, everything is organic, it’s very clean, they play classical music, and the staff and shoppers are all super-nice and polite.

Tags Berkeley, Berkeley Bowl, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages

Sketching at Saul’s Restaurant and Deli, Berkeley

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 9, 2009
8 Comments on Sketching at Saul’s Restaurant and Deli, Berkeley

My sketchcrawl buddies and I met at Saul’s Restaurant to sketch tonight. Saul’s was really nice about letting us hang out for 3 hours and the food was delicious. It takes such discipline to draw it before eating it! The owner of the restaurant does wonderful drawings herself, as can be seen on their menus and website.

Pickles, Ink & watercolorPickles, Ink & watercolor

Except for breakfast, a meal at Saul’s always starts with their dill pickles.

I had a plate of grilled trout with a bright green sauces and very colorful veges: kale and purple cauliflower.

Then I got into a fight with a macaroon. I drew it, painted it, messed it up, and started over. Cathy and Sonia were ready to leave, having both done some really nice sketches, but I wanted to keep fighting with the macaroon, feeling like a flop. So I asked for a take-out container and brought the macaroon home. After drawing it several more times at home I finally won the battle with the macaroon which I’ll post next time.

Tags Berkeley, Drawing, food sketches, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Saul's Deli Berkeley, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Life in general People Places Sketchbook Pages

Sketchcrawl at Shattuck Plaza Hotel

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 3, 2009
9 Comments on Sketchcrawl at Shattuck Plaza Hotel

Shattuck Plaza Hotel details, ink & watercolor — Shattuck Plaza Hotel, ink & watercolor

(Updated) We met at the newly remodeled Shattuck Plaza Hotel in Berkeley to sketch on Tuesday night. The lobby of the historic building has been transformed from an old-fashioned residential hotel with good”bones” to something entirely different. The walls are covered in a variety of black and white patterned wall paper from florals to paisley to stripes that seems to vibrate. The floors are a patchwork of checkerboard marble in between sections of rug the designer describes as “red and mauve 1960s flower-power pattern”. There are two huge crystal chandeliers, a red one that was newly created and the other, an original, that is 100-years old.

I was going to try drawing all of the different patterns on the walls, floors and furniture, but couldn’t stand looking at them, as reminded me of watching the patterns behind my eyelids during my migraine of only a few days prior. So I sketched a few of the lamps, sconces and furniture I could see from where I sat. Then we headed out into the cold for our next stop.

We went to Peets Coffee across the street and relaxed to the classical music while we sketched people. The monk knew we were drawing him and when they were leaving, came over and asked to see our sketches. I told him he had a beautiful smile.

He looked a bit embarrassed by my comment, but said thank you, and told us he doesn’t usually get out much, that he was here visiting with his grandmother and brother after living the past ten years in Thailand. He seemed so genuinely happy and at peace and made me want to return to my long-neglected Zen meditation practice

Tags Berkeley, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Peets Coffee, Pen and Ink, People, Shattuck Hotel, Sketchbook Pages

Berkeley Drawing Food sketch Ink and watercolor wash Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Tuesday Sushi Sketchcrawl at Miyaki Japanese Restaurant

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date November 4, 2009
12 Comments on Tuesday Sushi Sketchcrawl at Miyaki Japanese Restaurant

Miso Soup & Washcloths, ink and watercolor

Tuesday night sketchcrawl met at Miyuki Japanese Restaurant on Solano and it was a feast for the eyes and the stomach. It took tremendous willpower to sketch and paint each morsel before eating them. I started with the miso soup, delivered with steamy wash cloths to clean our hands before dining.

They brought edamame to our table while we looked at the menu. I sketched and ate them after the delicious miso soup. We sat at the sushi bar and had fun watching the sushi chef. He seemed to enjoyed watching us sketch,e specially Cathy’s sketch of him.

Next was the maguro sushi on a wooden plank. Spectacularly fresh and delicious. Then it was time for the star of the show, the Country Roll, stuffed with perfectly crisp asparagus and covered in spicy and slightly sweet seaweed salad.

Country Roll Sushi (seaweed salad & asparagus); Ink and watercolor

For “dessert” I ordered Unagi (grilled eel with a teriyaki-like sauce.

Unagi sushi (grilled eel), ink and watercolor

The waitress couldn’t quite make sense of us but since the restaurant wasn’t too crowded they didn’t mind us sitting there for two hours sketching and eating. And we left a big tip.

Miyuki Japanese Restaurant, Berkeley, ink and watercolor

All of these were sketched and painted on site except for this last one, which was sketched in the dark from across the street when I first arrived. I took notes about the colors and added color when I got home. I highly recommend Miyaki. The food is always fresh and beautifully prepared, the staff friendly, efficient and helpful and the prices very reasonable. It’s spacious so there’s never a wait and it’s not too noisy. And it’s a great place to sketch on a Tuesday night!

Tags Berkeley, Fish, food sketches, Ink and watercolor wash, Miyuki Japanese Restaurant, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages, Sushi

Albany Berkeley Landscape Oil Painting Outdoors/Landscape Painting Places Plein Air

Albany Bulb and Golden Gate Fields: Oil Plein Air Painting

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date September 20, 2009
11 Comments on Albany Bulb and Golden Gate Fields: Oil Plein Air Painting

Albany Bulb Beach and Golden Gate Fields, 8x10", oil on Gessobord

Today I spent the afternoon painting in the bright windy sunshine at Albany Bulb across the way from the Golden Gate Fields racetrack. I could hear the announcer calling the races while I painted. And I was visited by numerous dogs and curious children and the occasional art critic.

It felt so good to be out painting again–it had been too long. The only downside was that I was painting in the bright sun because I was too lazy to walk back to my car to get my umbrella. And it was so windy the umbrella probably would have blown away anyway. When the canvas and/or palette are in the bright sun it’s really easy to mix all the colors too dark.

So of course when I got home and took the painting out of its box everything was too dark. Although I’d taken photos, they were pretty boring so I mostly worked from my memory this evening to to make some corrections and add a bit of artistic license.

Tags Albany, Berkeley, Landscape, Oil Painting, Plein Air, plein air painting

Animals Berkeley Gouache People Places Sketchbook Pages

Waiting: For a Fire, a Subway Stop, a Book Shopper…

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date September 5, 2009
7 Comments on Waiting: For a Fire, a Subway Stop, a Book Shopper…

Waiting guy, waiting dog, ink and gouache — Waiting for his stop; waiting for her owner; ink and gouache

He was waiting for his stop on the subway ride and she was waiting for her owner to come out of the book store on Solano. I used the gouache to hide the guy’s nose that I added by mistake. (It wasn’t visible at this angle but he turned his head and I said, “Oh, there’s his nose,” and sketched it in, and immediately saw it was wrong.) The gouache also nicely hides the false start of the dog and the waiter (see last picture below) too.

North Berkeley Fire Station, copic sepia ink

The North Berkeley Fire Station is round. The fire truck barn is a large round concrete building with pillars and attached round buildings where the firemen (and women) live when they’re on duty. At the bottom left of the sketch is the very back of the waiting fire truck, with flag flying, just returned from one call and ready and waiting for the next.

This waiter was on a break from the Inidan restaurant in front of which I was sketching. Although he was only about 20 feet away, he was so engaged in his phone call that he didn’t seem to notice me sitting on my little sketching stool, frantically trying to catch his gesture before he walked away. There’s another quickie of the waiting dog on this page too.

These were all from last Tuesday night’s sketchcrawl. I sketched in pen on site and then added the gouache at home.

Tags Animals, Berkeley, Dog, Drawing, Gouache, Ink, ink sketch, People, Sketchbook Pages, sketches

Berkeley Drawing Ink and watercolor wash Places Sketchbook Pages

Sketching Doors near the Berkeley Rose Garden

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date August 8, 2009

Here’s a few sketches of doors from last week’s North Berkeley sketchcrawl around Euclid and Crystal above the Berkeley Rose Garden. I was really tired and not terribly inspired, but it was a nice evening nevertheless.

Near Berkeley Rose Garden #1, ink & watercolor

Near Berkeley Rose Garden #2, ink & watercolor

Tags Berkeley, Drawing, Ink and watercolor wash, Pen and Ink, Sketchbook Pages